Firm hired to do analysis of what's needed to close the former Kingston Hospital and expand the former Benedictine Hospital

By PAUL KIRBY

Monday, February 18, 2013

KINGSTON, N.Y. -- A St. Louis-based firm is expected to take between 90 and 120 days to come up with an analysis of what it will take to close the former Kingston Hospital and establish a single campus at the former Benedictine Hospital on Mary's Avenue, an official with the hospitals' parent company said Monday.

David Lundquist, president and chief executive officer of HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley said the selection of the firm, HBE Corp. of St. Louis, was done after considering four companies.

HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley runs both facilities. Under a recent agreement with the Benedictine sisters, the names of the hospitals have changed to HealthAlliance Hospital at Mary's Avenue and HealthAlliance Hospital at Broadway.

Lundquist described HBE as a "design/build company which is recognized nationally as one of the top design/build companies.

"We have engaged them to provide a clear determination of what it will take for us to make the physical changes to the Mary's Avenue campus that will allow us to consolidate," Lundquist said.

Lundquist said that the company has already begun its work on the report. He added that the cost of hiring the company will be determined in the final analysis.

Earlier this month, HealthAlliance announced that it had finalized an agreement with the Benedictine sisters to take over the ownership of the Benedictine Hospital facility.

On Monday, Lundquist would not release the details of that ownership takeover or whether it involved any payment by HealthAlliance to the Benedictine sisters.

"I think the sisters have been part of the community since the hospital was established and to respect the nature of that relationship with the community and the hospitals ... with respect to that (the details), we felt that the terms of the agreement should not be disclosed," Lundquist said.

It is expected when a single campus is established at the HealthAlliance Hospital at Mary's Avenue facility it will include a range of services, including the ability to perform abortions there.

In the past, Benedictine was prevented from having abortions performed there because it was a Catholic-run hospital.

Among other reasons, the consolidation is being done because of steep financial losses HealthAlliance has incurred since the company took over running the facilities in 2008.

The company has said a variety of reasons have caused the financial losses including the lack of inclusion in a so-called Metropolitan Statistical Area, a designation that would generate much more in the way of government reimbursements.

In July, HealthAlliance said in a PowerPoint presentation to the state Department of Health that the predicted price for the changeover would be $46.5 million, but that was before the company said they intended to maintain services that were targeted for elimination.

The $46.5 million is about the same as the total spent to bring Kingston and Benedictine hospitals together under the HealthAlliance umbrella in 2008, a move mandated by the state.

The 2008 affiliation included closing Benedictine's emergency room and building a new, larger emergency room at Kingston Hospital. The new plan calls for spending about $12 million to create a new emergency room at the HealthAlliance Hospital at Mary's Avenue.

HealthAlliance first announced in May that it was considering closing one of its two hospitals in Kingston. In July, the company said Kingston Hospital would be the one to close.